Listowel - Sunshine brought out a standing-room-only crowd and
aggressive bidding for 129 cattle at this year’s 31st annual
Mennonite Central Committee Heifer Sale at Carson’s Sales arena.
Proceeds were either a record or close to it, said Clarence
Diefenbacher – a total of $220,000, up from $169,000 last year.
Both the quantity and average quality of heifers was better
this year, he said – 129 heifers this year compared with 117 last year and an
average selling price of $1,525 this year.
The top heifers were once again donated by two teams whose
donations have topped the sale for many years. Joe and Roy Snyder, in combination with Clarence
Diefenbacher, donated a heifer that sold for $4,050 and Murray Gerber, Norm Roth and Ken Erb’s heifer sold for
$4,100.
Carson’s donated a carving of a horse and buggy that they
bought at the sale in 2,000. Their donation was in memory of directors Gerald
Bauman and Lyle Martin who died this year, and Farm Credit Canada bought it for
$2,300.
The sale raised $16,000 from the sale of miscellaneous items
and there was $7,000 in cash donations.
Diefenbacher said about 300 volunteers are involved in the
sale. Proceeds go to help some of the poorest people in the poorest countries.
The sale is attracting donors from a wider geographic area
each year, expanding into Grey and Bruce Counties and east in Wellington County
to the communities around Alma and Mount Forest, Diefenbacher said.
